codegeassfanonfandomcom-20200216-history
European Ultra-Union
The European Ultra-Union is a superpower in Juubi-K's Code Geass fanfictions 'The Sum of Our Choices' and 'One and Only Son.' Geography Members The EU's primary Member-states include all states in what is traditionally considered Europe, as well as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Malta,the Russian Federation, and Turkey africa turkey and iseral .. History Age of Revolution The process that would see the birth of the EU began in the last decade of the eighteenth century AD. The French Revolution, in itself caused by a combination of a powerless Crown, an empty treasury, and economic turmoil, saw the popularization of many new social and political ideas. It also saw considerable human suffering, as the comparitively genial revolution that saw the fall of the Bastille mutated into violent and bloodthirsty terror, motivated in part by the military threat posed to France by its neighbours. It was in this environment that Napoleon Bonaparte rose through the ranks of the French army, later entering into politics. As Consul, First Consul, and Emperor in 1804 AD, Napoleon would defeat every army sent against him, and make himself master of Europe. In 1807 AD, he would add Great Britain to his already long list of conquests. The beginning of the end came in 1812, with the catastrophic failure of Napoleon's invasion of Russia. The fate of Europe hung in the balance until October 18th, 1813 AD, when Napoleon's armies were defeated at Leipzig. The German states, who had previously been French allies, switched sides as one, accompanied by a previously quiescent Britain. Napoleon held on until 1815 AD , when he suffered his final defeat at Waterloo, later dying on the way back to France. The Congress of Vienna The period of conflict that would later be called the Napoleonic Wars had left Europe in ruins and hundred of thousands dead. The old order had been restored, at least on the surface, but it was generally acknowledged that nothing would ever be the same again. The purpose of the Congress of Vienna, as a series of meetings held in that city were referred to afterwards, was to solidify the balance of power in Europe, and thus ensure that such a conflagration would never happen again. This proved a pipe dream, as the social and political forces unleashed by the French Revolution would not be so easily calmed. Rising Powers Seeking to increase their power and wealth, many European states sought to acquire new territory in Africa. This was done by various means, ranging from agreements with local rulers to outright violence. One country that stood apart in that regard was Great Britain, which still possessed colonies in Australia and on Africa's southern tip, but no longer had the military power needed for conquest. Britain's response was to go back to its roots, creating an empire of a different kind, based on commerce rather than force of arms. Needing to make their presence worthwhile to local rulers, the British quickly found one commodity that was almost universally acceptable, namely firearms. In one notorious incident, British traders armed the Zulu people of southern Africa with modern rifles in return for their friendship. The Zulus crushed their competitors, including the Dutch Voortrekkers, and became a potent and much-respected ally of the British. Once known as a nation of shopkeepers, the British were from then on dubbed a nation of gunrunners. They would do much the same in China, defeating the outdated Qing military in battle, forcing trade concessions, then selling to the defeated Chinese the weapons by which they had done so. This contributed significantly to the eventual revoloution in china that would lead to rise of the Chinese Federation. Back in Europe, the peace forged at Vienna was beginning to unravel. The ideology of Nationalism, the idea that every 'nation' should have its own 'nation state,' was growing in popularity, especially among ethnic groups that did not possess a state of their own. This, combined with a growing desire for political representation and expanded rights, made for a volatile brew, with popular uprisings taking place across Europe in 1848, authorities putting them down with a combination of violence and compromise. When Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte declared himself Emperor of the French in 1852 AD (1907 ATB), he tabled the idea of a 'United States of Europe', made up of ethnically and culturally homogenous nation-states living in harmony. As if a Bonaparte on the throne of France was not bad enough for the other European powers, the ideas he was peddling threatened to overturn all established order. Matters finally came to a head in 1859 AD (1914 ATB), when Napoleon III provided overt military support to the Kingdom of Sardinia in its war with the Austrian Empire. The Franco-Italian forces won many victories, notably at Solferino. But the Habsburg forces proved more stubborn than Napoleon had given them credit for, and what should have been a short and victorious war served to further destabilize an already tense and heavily-armed Europe. Driven by fear of an arisen and all-conquering France, the German states hurriedly declared the German Confederation in 1860 AD (1915 ATB), and entered the war on the side of Austria. This in turn brought Russia into the conflict, opportunistically siding with France against what it viewed as a potential Germanic hegemony that could threaten its Polish possessions. Britain also entered on the side of France, for much the same reasons, after the German offensive violated Belgian neutrality. War of the Alliances The year 1821 AD had been significant, not only because of the death of Napoleon I. The final years of the war had seen the appearance of new technologies, including steam power, which promised significant changes to the conduct of future wars. Easily the most exciting development had been the discovery of the superconductive properties of sakuradite, a substance long regarded as magical. The discovery caused a veritable explosion of new technologies, fuelling the burgeoning Industrial Revolution and starting an arms race that would last for thirty years. Sakuradite-based dynamos increased the power of steam engines, allowing warships to carry bigger and heavier guns. Ships were armoured in response, necessitating the invention of more advanced guns, which in turn led to more advanced armour, and more advanced engines. The European powers, fearful of losing their edge, diverted bigger and bigger proportions of their natural resources, both human and material, to the improvement of their weapons. Technology also developed in the civilian sphere, with such wonders as the Electric Telegraph, and the earliest Wireless Radio, appearing in those times. The overall result was that by 1859 AD, the armies of Napoleon III were armed with bolt-action magazine rifles, capable of fast and accurate fire at ranges that his uncle could have only dreamed of. They were supported by breech-loading howitzers, moved and supplied by railway, and could even communicate to a limited extent via telephone. The result was that the side on the defensive had an advantage far more disproportionate to its numbers and capability than had ever previously been possible. Thus, despite early successes, the hard-pressed Imperial troops were able to stalemate their Franco-Italian opponents. The German Confederation found themselves in the same position. Despite their superior planning and staff work taking them through Belgium and some way into France, German forces were halted along the river Somme, a desperate French defence delaying them long enough to bring up reinforcements. The addition of Machine Guns, which thanks to budget limitations were comparatively rare in the French and Austrian forces, only shifted the balance further in favour of the defensive. In technological terms, only the appearance of combat aircraft and tanks, also beneficiaries of developments in sakuradite manipulation, would bring about any change. What followed was five long years of stalemate. Technology had pushed defensive capacity beyond the limits of the offensive, forcing Generals to rely on a concentration of titanic artillery bombardments and massed infantry assaults, hoping to defeat the enemy by attrition. Millions would die in the trenches of the Western Front, though just as many would die on the more fluid Eastern Front. The scale of the suffering caused widespread public bitterness in many countries, though it was in Russia that the effect would be most profound. The inability of the government to prosecute the war effectively, combined with a severe famine, led to widespread discontent. This created an opportunity for Tsar Alexander II to bring about necessary reforms, against weakened aristocratic resistance. His reforms alarmed many anti-government extremists, including the organisation Narodnya Volya ''(People's Will), who feared losing the opportunity of a lifetime. In 1865 AD (1920 ATB) the Tsar was killed in a bomb attack by agents of People's Will, his tendency to ride around St Petersburg with minimal escort proving his undoing. Pig-headed attempts by the government to undo his reforms in the wake of his death led to mass unrest, and a Russia already stretched to breaking point by a cataclysmic war finally surrenderd. In the west, Napoleon III had already been forced from power by his own government, which vowed to fight as a 'Government of National Defence.' But France had given too much, and their paens to the ideals of the Revolution went largely unheeded. Germany's last offensive, in spring of 1865, pushed France to breaking point, only to run out of momentum. Founding of the League The most common response to the final end of the War of the Alliances, otherwise known as the First World War, was of bewilderment. None of the major combatants could really claim to have won, but neither had they lost. The war was ended primarily because all involved could bear no more, and the peace was made with a series of messy compromises. The Austrian Empire mutated into the Imperial and Royal Federation of Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, Slovakia, and Slovenia, better known as the KUK Federation or Austria-Hungary. The German Confederation was forced to give up Alsace and Lorraine to France, and later lost Silesia in a plebiscite, but France was forced to drop its demands for financial reparations. Russia would suffer by far the most, a series of provisional governments proving incapable of keeping the vast country under any kind of control, and losing territory in Siberia to the new Chinese Federation. The only countries able to claim any kind of victory were Italy and Poland, both of which gained national independence, an occurrence which would feed into yet another tragedy. Seeking to ensure that such a war could never be repeated, several European states founded the European League, a new body that would allow issues to be resolved through dialogue rather than violence. In time, all of Europe except Russia would join. Though there was peace in western Europe, eastern Europe was rocked with civil strife, as new nation-states were established, or sought to gain new territory. The inevitable result was the incorporation of unwanted minorities in the new states, whose fate was generally to be excluded and victimized by the majority group. The preservation of the old Habsburg empire, in its new guise as the KUK Federation, was an attempt to remedy the problem, proving remarkably successful within its own borders. The next outright war, the civil war that broke out in Spain in 1872 AD, was not caused by ethnic issues, however. Initially little more than another Carlist uprising, the war grew to encompass much wider social, political, and economic issues. A republic was briefly declared in 1873, but proved incapable of ending the crisis, being forced to seek assistance from Russia and France when the violence flared up again. However, the monorchy government in Moscow was too busy with its own internal conflicts, and a long-winded war with the Chinese , to provide much assistance. An increasingly authoritarian France, despite being a fellow republic, found its Spanish counterpart a little too left-wing for its liking. Even an influx of idealistic volunteers from other countries did not make much difference, and the civil war ended in a royalist victory in 1874 AD. The new King, Alfonso XII, began a process of reform by Spain would become a democratic constitutional monarchy. Spain would remain peaceful as such, but the damage done by the fighting meant that Spain would also remain neutral, though a member of the European League. Curiously, stories have abounded of young Britannian knights fighting on the royalist side. If true, this represents the Empire's first significant involvement in European politics since it's founding. Age of the Dictators The Spanish Civil War was at an end, but its political and ideological signifiance was not. To many Europeans of a liberal or left-wing bent, the failure of the Spanish Republic was an unwelcome sign of the times. To the far-left in particular, it was a sign that circumstances were not moving in their favour. In their eyes, a revolutionary republic had fallen to reactionary forces who now disguised themselves in the mantles of reform. That the Spanish monarchy was constitutionalizing itself was particularly significant, for other European royal families were taking a similar approach, surrendering political power in order to avoid public hostility. Leftists feared that if they did not act quickly to bring about the revolution, by any means necessary, then the chance would pass them by. The result was an upsurge in left-wing agitation, in many cases spilling over into violence, though others believed that greater organization and cooperation was necessary, turning instead to Moscow for leadership. By 1875 AD (1930 ATB) the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics had concluded its war with Chinese Federation, and was undergoing breakneck industrialization in the hope of catching up with the capitalist west. This combination of an increasingly credible USSR and a political left both increasingly violent and increasingly willing to take orders from Moscow made Communism, as their common ideology was generally labelled, an object of fear and loathing among European conservatives. This fear caused a political shift in many European capitals. France had become increasingly authoritarian since the inconclusive and unsatisfying end of the First World War, in part as a reaction to the resulting social upheaval. Italy had been founded as a republic, King Victor Emmanuel of Piedmont having been killed in the war, under a grief-stricken Guiseppe Garibaldi. After his death it too took a turn for the authoritarian, staying close to France out of gratitude and mutual interest. The other member of what was becoming a tripartite pact was the Polish Republic, which had emerged as an independent state as a result of the war, gaining former Austrian territory of Galicia as part of the peace deal, and later gaining Polish-dominated lands from the German Confederation in a series of plebiscites. Despite its many successes, the Polish state was riven with fear; fear of reconquest by the Russians, or else the Germans, a fear given added impetus in the former case by the spectre of Communism. All three states came to adopt their own variations on a new ideology, that borrowed some ideas from Communism while standing in fervent opposition to it. This ideology called for strong leadership, a collective national identity, and unrestrained violence in the service of the state. It was generally known as Fascism. Italy took the lead, seeking to expand its power by acquiring territory in Africa. The Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1880 AD (1935 ATB) caused outrage across Europe, especially in Britain, of whom Ethiopia was an ally. Despite this, the European League was unable to effectively restrain Italy, in part due to divisions between those members who favoured action and those who did not. Taking this failure as a sign of weakness, France, Italy, and Poland signed a treaty of friendship and mutual defence in 1884 AD (1939 ATB), known as the Pact of Steel. Surrounded, the German Confederation became increasingly belligerent, calling for immediate action by the League. The response of the Pact members was to withdraw from the League, calling upon other European states to join them in a prospective crusade against the 'godless, ruinous Marxism' as personified by the USSR. Romania and Bulgaria, fearful of potential Soviet aggression, answered the call. The remaining League members either refused outright or dithered, fearful of the war they knew was coming. On September 1st 1884 AD, declaring their determination to 'save European civilization', the Pact declared war on the German Confederation. The War of the Alliances had begun. Sorrowful Union Red Twilight A New Century Britannia Delenda Est Goverment The Council of Ministers (C-Min) The Council of Ministers, often called C-Min, represents the highest level of government in the EU, its President being the nearest thing the EU has to a Head of State. Its members consist of appointed representatives of the government of each member state, along with representatives of the Directorates. The council acts effectively as a cabinet, making high-level decisions in meetings chaired by the President, acting as the final arbiter in all EU-wide legislative matters. The President has theoretically wide-ranging powers, able to act as the EU's Head of State in contexts considered appropriate, but is in practice ''primus inter pares with the rest of the council, from whose members the President is chosen by formal ballot. The council may put policy before the Central Hemicycle, veto bills passed by the aforesaid, and act without the aforesaid's cooperation in situations covered by the 'Clear and Present Danger' clause in the Constitution. However, the Council of Ministers is subject at all times and in all circumstances to the oversight of the Council of Magistrates. The Central Hemicycle (Cent-Hem) The Central Hemicycle acts as the democratically-elected legislature of the the EU, it's members chosen from each member-state by popular ballot. The Hemicycle, often dubbed Cent-Hem, has control of the Budget, and must debate all motions put to it before coming to a vote, the debates being chaired by the Speaker. A motion once passed is then subjected to the Council of Magistrates, to ensure that it is neither illegal nor unconstitutional, and to the Council of Ministers, who may send it back or strike it down outright. Cent-Hem may overturn any act taken by the Council of Ministers by a two-thirds vote, so long as that act is not covered by the 'Clear and Present Danger' clause. The same vote is needed to force the resignation of the President of the Council of Ministers, along with a ruling from the Council of Magistrates. Cent-Hem represents a forum in which the electorates of the member states may have their opinions aired, without interference by national governments and their interests (which find expression on the Council of Ministers). It is nonetheless divided by the desires and interests of those who find representation there, especially with regard to foreign policy matters. This was illustrated in the response to the Britannian invasion of Japan in 1955 AD (2010 ATB), with Cent-Hem divided between factions favouring military action, further economic sanctions, negotiations, and isolationism. The Peace faction gained influence over time, almost bringing about a negotiated peace with Britannia in July of 1963 AD (2018 ATB). The Council of Magistrates (C-Mag) The Council of Magistrates, sometimes called C-Mag, acts as the EU government's judicial branch. Much like the Britannian Supreme Court, it is made up of justices serving for life, each member state providing one member. It's purpose is also much the same, to provide judicial oversight of all government functions and reserving the power to establish legal precedent. It represents the highest legal authority in the EU, overseeing the EU Courts of Justice, Human Rights, and First Instance, which may be petitioned by any citizen. In legislative matters, the council has the power to strike down or force alteration to any motion which it regards as contravening the Constitution or the Law. The Council Royal (C-Rex) A somewhat unusual entity, the Council Royal exists to handle matters relating to monarchical and related institutions within the EU. It is made up of members of European Royal families, their representatives, and in recent years has taken to appointing representatives of major monarchist groups. It has no lawmaking power as such, it's role in government being purely advisory. It has, however, attracted hostility from anti-monarchist movements, who choose to regard it as a means by which European royalty interfere in government. There is, and has never been, any evidence to substantiate these claims, all European monarchies being constitutional. The council has however been used by Europe's Crowned heads to discuss and align their positions on certain matters, most notably relations with Britannia. The Directorates The Directorates, as they are generally known, are among the most controversial arms of the EU. Created after the EU-Soviet War, their purpose was to act as open forums in which members of certain professions could meet, cooperate, and pool knowledge. The European Medical Directorate, or EUROMED, was the first to be created, though EUROSEC had existed for somewhat longer in practice. Over time the Directorates grew in power and influence as their members became more and more accustomed to working together, unencumbered by national borders, to the point where several of them effectively dominate the functions they represent. The Directorates are as follows; EUROMED - the medical profession EUROLEX - the legal profession EUROPOL - police EUROARMPOL - armed police EUROCIV - civil services EUROFORCE - pan-EU rapid-reaction force EUROSEC - secret services Demographics and Society Economy Military Famous and Infamous Europeans King Michael of Great Britain Miguel Gandolfy Richard Dressler